Calif. requires manufacturers to meet national voting law requirements

Summary:Manufacturers of e-voting machines will have to bear the cost of meeting the requirements of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), California Secretary of State Bruce McPherson said last week. Vendors will have to sign contracts agreeing to the stipulation.

Manufacturers of e-voting machines will have to bear the cost of meeting the requirements of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), California Secretary of State Bruce McPherson said last week. Vendors will have to sign contracts agreeing to the stipulation. “I want the people to get what they paid for, an accurate, secure and fully compliant voting system,” McPherson said in a government press release. “When manufacturers of voting systems claim that they are compliant with federal and state law, we must make them keep their promise.”

Under the new rules, vendors must bear the cost of modifying machines if the state finds that they are not HAVA-compliant. The new rule also explicitly states that federal and state funds provided to counties for voting machines are only for the purchase of the machines.